I was a Piglet jumper. They are as reliable a canopy a canopy as you will ever get.

I would not recommend jumping one if you weigh more than 150#. Especially, as you can assume the canopy is much more porous now. Even when the canopy was new, it had a reputation as a hard lander. It was possible to "flare" it, if you had perfect timing and wind conditions.

It also opened very quickly (read hard). I liked the hard openings, but not everyone does.

If a 23' Piglet was available, it would be a better choice unless you are a lightweight. All the good of a Piglet 2, but bigger, so the landings weren't as brutal. My husband jump one and never really had any problems with it.

Wish I had that advice about 30some years ago, my knee still hurts from one of my two or so piglet jumps. What I did learn is that you do not hook turn piglets for landing like you would a PC or Starlite.

About reliability, the guys that jumped the Piglets were the guys that would pull at a grand with no concern.

Jumped a piglet once ... had to borrow it for a demo when my own rig developed an issue. The demo was in the mountains on a hot day. I weighed 180#. The ground was hard and rocky. I thought my hip bones had gone into my chest cavity. Really liked the canopy in the air, and it packed small for its time ... but the openings were "distinct" and the landings for heavier guys were memorable.

Jumped a piglet once ... had to borrow it for a demo when my own rig developed an issue. The demo was in the mountains on a hot day. I weighed 180#. The ground was hard and rocky. I thought my hip bones had gone into my chest cavity. Really liked the canopy in the air, and it packed small for its time ... but the openings were "distinct" and the landings for heavier guys were memorable.

Hi Mr Wart

My memory is fadeing along with my spelling. But the way I remember it all the Big people would have a "distinct" landing on anything round that didn't land in the peas.

Big People had to be hard core or else they didn't stay around very long

To bad these days anyone can have major issues flying or landing a properly sized canopy if they try hard enough..

Hey Krip - The canopy that I jumped most of all was a short-lined (36") PC mod that was done by Hugh Bergeron. I did stand-up landings on that as a matter of routine, and before that, almost always did stand-ups on a 7TU "cheapo". Maybe that's part of the reason why I now have problems with hips, knees, and ankles, but the point is that the piglet's landings were a little more like the end of a (round) reserve ride.

Could not say--only reserve rides were 26' navy conical that ossilated like crazy the first time I used it. Installed a 4-line release and it flew nice, no swinging around (like the first ride) and steered it to a stand up landing on a front lawn in the middle of a housing project.

I was a Piglet jumper. They are as reliable a canopy a canopy as you will ever get.

I would not recommend jumping one if you weigh more than 150#. Especially, as you can assume the canopy is much more porous now. Even when the canopy was new, it had a reputation as a hard lander. It was possible to "flare" it, if you had perfect timing and wind conditions.

It also opened very quickly (read hard). I liked the hard openings, but not everyone does.

If a 23' Piglet was available, it would be a better choice unless you are a lightweight. All the good of a Piglet 2, but bigger, so the landings weren't as brutal. My husband jump one and never really had any problems with it.

A PLF is your friend under this canopy.

When Hank Asciutto was developing the Piglet system, I jumped his Piglet-1 rig one time. The Piglet-1 did not have the stabilizer panels found on the 2 and the opening was VERY quick, prompting an immediate expletive that rhymed with "DUCK!". I went on to make about 200 jumps a Piglet-2 which was much more comfortable on opening.

At 140 lb. I didn't have much trouble landing. I did witness a lean, but very tall jumper have an oscillation on landing that smacked him into the ground and knocked him out cold.

When Hank started bujilding canopies he gave Mike Lee and I canopies free of charge and maintained them also because they were blowing out panels now and then. I don't remember which model they were but initially they had an OSI and then he did away with that. I remember one jump using the OSI when I woke up under canopy at about 1K feet wondering where I was. I used one for some time because they packed up so small.

The Piglets did not have “stabilizers”, they were canopy extensions. Each panel was wider than the gore and would catch air on deployment and slow the opening down. I have around 500/600 jumps on Piglets, most on the 23 foot “Big man” version. I also did the live jumps when Hank TSO’d his 26 foot R-4 reserve.

The Piglets did not have “stabilizers”, they were canopy extensions. Each panel was wider than the gore and would catch air on deployment and slow the opening down. I have around 500/600 jumps on Piglets, most on the 23 foot “Big man” version. I also did the live jumps when Hank TSO’d his 26 foot R-4 reserve.

I worked for Hank at Para Innovators in the summer of '75. I may be mis-remembering this, but I think he called the extensions as stabilizer panels. They certainly looked similar to those on Paracommanders but, yes, their function was to slow down deployment. A similar system was used on the Piglet-2 reserve, but the panels were separated rather than being contiguous. This was also found on a military emergency parachute, but I don't know the details.

Some of you may recall the James Bond movie where Bond skied off a cliff and opened a parachute. It was a Piglet-2 done up with a Union Jack pattern.

The very same summer I worked for Hank, I took possesion of a Piglet-2. I jumped it until I got a 5-cell Parafoil. It never failed me nor bit me. It was a great canopy in its day. Were I ever to be on a zillion-way formation attempt (lol), I'd be willing to use it again, provided the landing area was big enough.

The Piglets did not have “stabilizers”, they were canopy extensions. Each panel was wider than the gore and would catch air on deployment and slow the opening down. I have around 500/600 jumps on Piglets, most on the 23 foot “Big man” version. I also did the live jumps when Hank TSO’d his 26 foot R-4 reserve.

I worked for Hank at Para Innovators in the summer of '75. I may be mis-remembering this, but I think he called the extensions as stabilizer panels. They certainly looked similar to those on Paracommanders but, yes, their function was to slow down deployment. A similar system was used on the Piglet-2 reserve, but the panels were separated rather than being contiguous. This was also found on a military emergency parachute, but I don't know the details.

Some of you may recall the James Bond movie where Bond skied off a cliff and opened a parachute. It was a Piglet-2 done up with a Union Jack pattern.

The very same summer I worked for Hank, I took possesion of a Piglet-2. I jumped it until I got a 5-cell Parafoil. It never failed me nor bit me. It was a great canopy in its day. Were I ever to be on a zillion-way formation attempt (lol), I'd be willing to use it again, provided the landing area was big enough.

Ralph Johnson

Hey Ralph,

1975 was before my time…..first jump in 1976.

But you right about the Bond film, it was a Piglet with the extensions/stabilizers removed. If was filmed at Baffin Island. Hank sent Buckley to work the job and Jim said he went nuts up there for 2 weeks.

A Piglet container manual refers to the canopy panels on a Piglet as "canopy extensions", while the Para Commander manual uses "stabilization panels" and also shortens it to "stabilizers". So it looks like different companies used different terms, even if skydivers didn't distinguish between the brands in whatever term they used.

A Piglet container manual refers to the canopy panels on a Piglet as "canopy extensions", while the Para Commander manual uses "stabilization panels" and also shortens it to "stabilizers". So it looks like different companies used different terms, even if skydivers didn't distinguish between the brands in whatever term they used.

On a Piglet they are “canopy extensions”, and designed as such. They are designed to catch air and slow down the inflation.

I realize that this thread is super old, but I do have a few images to add to the conversation. At the time these photos were taken, the only canopy that I owned was a shortlined 28" 7TU (packed in a bag and stuffed in a Jumpshack SST), but I did borrow a Piglet II to skydive into East Carolina University's homecoming game during the fall of 1976. I remember having to make a relatively low turn before landing; the canopy did not have quite enough time to recover before I ended up on my butt. Other jumpers that were on the jump used an assortment of canopies; Piglet 23, 2 Stratostars, and a Paraplane. The jumper under the Stratostar is Jamie Guin. If you want to see how the canopy landed under normal circumstances, click on this link and go to 4:58, I am jumping the same canopy at the dropzone that was located in Mt. Olive, NC. I probably weighed 155-160 at the time.